Campus Cruise: Three former athletes honored in halls of fame

Three area products are being honored for their exploits some two decades ago.

Steve Blackledge, The Columbus Dispatch

Three area products are being honored for their exploits some two decades ago.

Former Ohio University men's basketball standout Gary Trent of Hamilton Township and Akron women's track star Christi Smith of Bexley recently were inducted into the Mid-American Conference Athletic Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Cleveland.

In three seasons ((1992-93 to 1994-95) Trent racked up 2,108 points and 1,050 rebounds in becoming the only three-time player of the year in MAC history.

Trent played 11 years in the NBA with Portland, Toronto, Dallas and Minnesota. He is now an assistant principal and a cultural intervention specialist at an elementary school in St. Paul, Minn. He and his wife, Natalia, have four sons: Gary Jr., Garyson, Grayson and Graydon.

In 2000, Smith capped her track career at Akron by winning the NCAA heptathlon championship with a MAC-record 5,797 points, a record that still stands. The four-time all-American set 11 school records, competed in the Olympic trials and was named Akron's female athlete of the year three times. Akron recently honored her as the school's greatest female athlete.

Smith went on to become a track coach at Ohio U., Kent State and Iowa. She is now a strength and conditioning coach for the Oregon women's team and resides in Eugene, Ore.

Hartley graduate Georgia Schweitzer, now known as Dr. Georgia Schweitzer Beasley, will be inducted into the Duke Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 11.

Schweitzer Beasley was instrumental in Duke's most prolific women's basketball run from 1998 to 2001, in which the Blue Devils won 111 games, made four NCAA Tournament appearances and played in the 1999 national title game.

Schweitzer Beasley twice was named Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year and was a first-team All-American as a senior. She finished her career with 1,620 points, 533 rebounds, 428 assists and 171 steals.

She played three seasons in the WNBA before enrolling in medical school at Duke. She is now a surgeon specializing in cancer research at Duke Medical Center. Schweitzer Beasley, her husband, Jonathan, and son, Reid, reside in Durham, N.C.

Softball

Senior shortstop Devan Boggs of West Jefferson and sophomore pitcher Alyssa Patznick of Lakewood had a big hand in Capital going 35-12. Boggs batted .488 with 14 homers, 53 RBI, 50 runs scored and an .898 slugging percentage. Patznick went 18-6 with a 2.99 ERA. • Senior pitcher Rachel McAninch of West Jefferson went 16-10 with a 2.00 ERA and 176 strikeouts for Mount Union.

Baseball

Dublin Jerome graduate Jared King helped Kansas State (45-19) win its first Big 12 title since 1933 and advance to an NCAA super regional. King, a junior outfielder, batted .335 with seven home runs, 53 RBI and 52 runs scored. The first-team all-Big 12 choice was drafted in the fifth round by the New York Mets.

• Third baseman Drew Dosch of Canal Winchester capped a junior season with Youngstown State by being named first-team all-Horizon League for the second time and being selected in the seventh round by the Baltimore Orioles. He batted .338 with 30 RBI and 40 runs scored.

• Grove City product Mike Mayers went 5-6 with a 2.83 ERA for Mississippi and was drafted in the third round by the St. Louis Cardinals.

• Xavier outfielder Mark Elwell, a senior from Newark Catholic, made second-team all-Atlantic 10 after batting .332 with 22 RBI, 38 runs scored and 15 stolen bases. • Dublin Coffman graduate Keenan White helped Wooster (33-12) win the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament title and earn an NCAA spot. The senior went 12-2 with a 2.90 ERA, earning NCAC pitcher of the year and first-team all-Mideast Region honors. • Ashland's Tyler Gray, a junior first baseman and third baseman from Jonathan Alder, made first team all-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after batting .362 with 37 RBI and 35 runs.

Track and field

Sophomores Charlotte Myers of Bexley and Anna Lamb of Granville had outstanding seasons for the Miami University women's team.

Myers ran on the RedHawks' MAC championship 400- (45.29 seconds) and 1,600-meter (3 minutes, 39.51 seconds) relay teams and added a fourth in the 400 (54.84). Lamb was the MAC champion in the 10,000 (35:06.56) and was second in the 5,000 (16:37.27).

• Ashland's Drew Windle, a sophomore from New Albany, won the NCAA Division II championship in the 800 (1:48.52), matching the title he won indoors. He helped Ashland to a national runner-up finish.

• Seniors Ethan Freet of London and Silas Jolliff of Cardington made up half of Ohio Wesleyan's 1,600 relay team that took third in the NCAA Division III championships and set a school record of 3:10.4. The team also broke the NCAC record.

Freet took fourth nationally in the 400 hurdles (52.08), setting an NCAC record and earning sprinter/hurdler of the year. Jolliff broke a 14-year-old NCAC record in the 400 (47.63).

• Lancaster graduate Brannon Kidder capped his freshman season at Penn State by placing third in the 800 (1:47.41) at the NCAA championships.

• Eastern Illinois junior Jade Riebold of Olentangy Liberty took third in the women's pole vault (14-51/4) in the NCAA championships.

• Hilliard Darby graduate and sophomore attack Victoria Blatt led the Otterbein women in scoring for the second straight season, collecting 49 goals and seven assists.

Golf

Ohio Dominican's Nick Reardon, a junior from Watterson, placed 19th in the NCAA Division II championships with a three-round score of 221. He averaged 74.8 strokes for 18 holes in the fall and spring seasons.

Basketball

Former Northland and Kent State player Julian Sullinger has been hired as an assistant men's coach at Tiffin under first-year coach Jerry Buccilla.

sblackledge@dispatch.com

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